Day 17: Pollença (Drive/Cycle)

Only one new coll for me today:

The plan for today's ride was to complete the last section of the northern mountain/coast road not yet ridden by me, which would result in me effectively riding from Port d'Andratx to Far de Formentor; a distance of approximately 173 kilometers (includes detours to Port de Sollér and Sa Calobra). However, in completing this I will have ridden some sections in both directions and cycled approximately 434 kilometres!

Moreover, I had set myself the task of riding the total mountain/coast road from west to east and, as such, today I needed to cycle to the turning for Sa Calobra and then do a u-turn, which obviously was not too onerous.

However, on arrival at the turning I started to think, "now that you've ridden this far, instead of simply turning round, why not cycle over the Coll del Reis and down to Sa Calobra?" Why not indeed? Well: 1) I did it just the other day, 2) there is the time taken to get there and back again - I guessed at 1.5 hours, 3) it would mean one climb of 2.5 km at 6.4% average gradient and another climb up from Sa Calobra of 9.5 kilometers with an average gradient of 7%.

Obviously, I decided to do it! Who knows if, or when, I may next get to cycle this iconic climb again? It just had to be done. And who wants to live with regrets. Better to try, and wish you had not, than to forever wish you had! At least, this time the sun was shining and the temperatures were significantly higher than the other day: at one point the temperature tipped the scales at 22°C! But, cycling sections of road that were shaded all day resulted in temperatures as low as 12°C.

Here's another photo of the winding roads to Sa Calobra:

... and here's another photo of the Coll del Reis, without the fog this time!

Obviously, having achieved this momentous west to east cycle ride a celebratory ice cream is a fitting way for the adventure to end (even though I still had another five miles to ride back to the van!)

• Distance driven: 5 miles
• Distance cycled: 107 kilometres
• Weather: Probably the best weather so far this year!
• Mosquito bites: 1 (correction: 3 bites!)
• Mosquito exterminations: 1
• Location: Google Maps

Today's modified enhanced route: